Black holes were not actually rare in the universe. Invisible to the naked eye, they were like traps scattered throughout space, and every race that had mastered Cosmic Traversal made a point of marking them on its Interstellar Star Charts.
After obtaining the time metal, Lin Chen's next destination was Planet Vegeta.
He did not stay there long. Once he confirmed the location of the nearest black hole to Planet Vegeta, he used Instant Transmission to travel straight to the surrounding space.
Even Lin Chen, who could already transform into a Super Saiyan, could not withstand the power of a black hole. As such, the spot he teleported to was still a considerable distance away from it.
The instant he emerged from Instant Transmission, Lin Chen transformed into a Super Saiyan and raised an Energy Shield to protect himself.
"The black hole... it's over there!"
With just a brief sweep of his senses, Lin Chen located the black hole.
In one particular direction, he could sense nothing at all.
Black holes drew in all matter, including energy, so all Lin Chen had to do was find a place where he could sense nothing. That would naturally be where the black hole was.
After flying for an hour, Lin Chen gradually began to feel the black hole's tremendous gravitational pull. Going any farther might put him in danger.
He stopped and took out the time metal, following Zuno's instructions.
"Throwing the time metal into the black hole will open a Time-Space Gate, and my system can control where it leads?"
Lin Chen muttered to himself, hesitated briefly, then threw the time metal toward the black hole.
"I hope that Zuno wasn't lying to me. Otherwise, I'll make him pay!"
Under Lin Chen's watchful gaze, the precious metal, which had vanished from the universe, slowly drifted deeper toward the black hole.
Suddenly, a brilliant, crystalline light rose from the metal. Then Lin Chen saw a powerful force bend the block of time metal, stretching it into strange, distorted lines.
After that, as though it could no longer withstand the strain, the time metal shattered under the gravitational pull and vanished.
That time metal I spent three wishes obtaining was just... gone?
Lin Chen was about to curse Zuno for being so unreliable when blood-red spatial rifts suddenly appeared where the time metal had vanished, each resembling a gaping, bloody maw.
The rifts continued to grow until they spread into one enormous opening, just large enough for Lin Chen to pass through.
Could this be the Time-Space Gate?
While Lin Chen was still trying to confirm it, a voice sounded in his mind.
Ding! Time-Space Gate detected. Space-Time Traversal Function activated! Please spend Time Points to select your destination.
Sure enough, everything was just as Zuno had said. The moment the Time-Space Gate opened, a new function appeared in Lin Chen's system.
And judging by the notification, this new function would let Lin Chen select the world he wanted to visit.
There was just one problem...
"System, what are Time Points?"
Ding! Host, your journey to a parallel timeline will interfere with the destination's space-time. To offset the effects of this interference, the system must consume a special form of energy known as Time Points. You can obtain Time Points by correcting the history of your current timeline.
Lin Chen frowned. "Correcting the history of my current timeline? What does that mean?"
This time, however, the system did not answer. Instead, it gave Lin Chen a countdown.
Ding! Warning, Host: the newly formed Time-Space Gate is unstable. Please spend Time Points to confirm your destination within one hour, or the Time-Space Gate will close.
"Damn it!"
Seeing the countdown appear before him, Lin Chen immediately scratched his head.
This system really loves making trouble. If it had a function like this, couldn't it have told me beforehand?
Now it's only giving me an hour. Where am I supposed to find these Time Points?
Wait...
Lin Chen's gaze suddenly sharpened. A moment later, he used Instant Transmission and returned to Kami's Lookout on Earth.
At the Lookout, Kami was observing the world below when he suddenly sensed Lin Chen's ki behind him.
He turned around in surprise. "Mr. Lin Chen? Why are you back again?"
Lin Chen waved a hand. "Never mind that. Kami, where are the Dragon Balls I gave you after we returned from Planet Namek?"
"The Dragon Balls? I've put them away. I originally created them to give the people of this world the motivation to pursue their dreams, but humanity..."
"All right, all right. Kami, hurry up and get the Dragon Balls for me!" Lin Chen said urgently, his stern tone startling Kami.
"Huh? Oh..."
Seeing this, Kami could only ask Mr. Popo to bring out the Dragon Balls. At the moment, however, they were still stones.
Lin Chen frowned and asked, "Kami, can you tell me how many stars each of these stones has?"
"Of course. This one is the One-Star Ball, this is the Two-Star Ball, and this is..."
Lin Chen committed each one to memory, then picked up all the balls and tossed them into his System Space.
"Kami, I'm taking these Dragon Balls back down to the world below. Goodbye!"
With that, Lin Chen vanished before Kami and Mr. Popo once again.
Watching Lin Chen come and go like the wind, Kami asked in bewilderment, "Mr. Popo, what is Lin Chen trying to do?"
Mr. Popo said, "Kami, I believe Lin Chen said he wanted to return the Dragon Balls to the world below."
Just then, Lin Chen appeared at Son Goku's home on Mount Paozu.
Once again, Kid Goku's home was empty. Lin Chen did not linger. He took the still-petrified Four-Star Ball out of his System Space and rolled it under Son Goku's bed.
Next, Lin Chen went to Turtle House, which was also empty.
He did not stay long there either, finding a place to leave the Three-Star Ball before departing.
Then Lin Chen repeatedly used Instant Transmission, placing the remaining Dragon Balls at locations such as the Ox-King's Castle.
Once all seven Dragon Balls were taken care of, a notification appeared in Lin Chen's mind, just as he had expected.
Ding! Historical correction confirmed. Congratulations, Host! You have obtained 1 Time Point!
Just as he had thought. Lin Chen clenched his fists.
Correcting history simply meant steering this world's course of events toward the original Dragon Ball story.
Because of the incident on Tiviy Star, Lin Chen had previously asked Kami to collect all the Dragon Balls on Earth. That could have prevented the story of the Dragon Balls from ever taking place in this world.
But now that Lin Chen had returned all seven Dragon Balls to their original locations, the story of the Dragon Ball world might continue to unfold.
Before you continue